The phrase "alternative governor" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts where you are referring to a substitute or replacement for a governor, often in legal or organizational settings.
Example: "In the absence of the primary governor, the alternative governor will assume all responsibilities and duties."
Alternatives: "substitute governor" or "acting governor".
As the socially conservative wing of the Republican party has continued to shop around for an alternative to Governor Mitt Romney, they've browsed through a number of candidates -- Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Governor Rick Perry, businessman Herman Cain, and former House speaker Newt Gingrich -- before quickly losing interest and moving on.
Rather than propose and push a serious alternative, the governor put forward a plan designed for failure.
No one -- not the legislature, the prosecutors, the candidates, or even the commission on which I served -- offered any alternative to Governor Ryan.
Most citizens support a democratic rise in the gas tax as a more fair alternative to Governor Corzine's peculiar idea of maintaining a few toll roads that are the equivalent of a "penalty box".
House leaders, who had drafted the bipartisan bill as an alternative to Governor Ventura's plan to raise taxes, pushed for the new vote, and several Democrats switched their positions.
The other establishment alternatives – Ohio governor John Kasich, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Christie – had spent the greater part of 2015 imploring voters in New Hampshire to choose record over rhetoric, seemingly to little avail.
(If Perry is the only plausible alternative, the Massachusetts governor has the moderate-East Coast vote locked up).
Other political experts said Mr. Curry squandered early chances to offer voters alternative to the governor's track record on taxes, urban revitalization, education and health care.
Five student members of a political group were arrested by the campus police for refusing to take down a banner hung from Osmond Laboratory to promote what they called "a socially responsible alternative to the Governor's Convention".
The alternative approach, the Governor says, is to separate the "utility" parts of banking — managing customer accounts, making electronic transfers, and financing industrial investment — from the "casino" parts, such as speculating in currencies and mortgage bonds.
